Opinion

If I had a dollar for every time I have heard that print journalism is dead, then paying my rent would be much easier.

As a young person who chose to get a degree in photojournalism I’ve been called everything from brave to silly. However, after spending time with a few community newspapers I have gleefully discovered that people still want ink-stained fingers to accompany their coffee.

When we are clear, the world is clear to us. When we have clarity of mind and heart, we know what to choose, where to go and whom to travel with. When your body is clear – of chemical toxins, negative emotional residue, excess weight and mental chatter – your soul can proceed in the direction of goodness, truth and beauty. When your body and mind and heart are all clear, you can move steadfastly in the direction of loving yourself.

After reading the article in Nov. 7 EraI could not believe what was written about the power Pewee Valley claims over the cell tower installation by the Salem Assembly of God church at 209 LaGrange Road.

When I was a little girl, my family lived close enough to town that I could walk to the grocery store. One summer day, my sister and I decided to walk to the store for ice cream and took our dog, Hobo, with us. Hobo soon got hot and tired and demanded he be carried the rest of the way.

Our society surrounds us with a great cloud of enticement. Wherever we turn we confront the claim that happiness is just around the corner, a matter of having more or better or newer things. The father of American capitalism certainly endorsed this creed. John D. Rockefeller, when asked what would make him happy, is said to have replied, “One dollar more.”

I feel that Bill Lammlein was voted into a mess. The former mayor certainly did not leave the city all tidy and up to date. There was a lot of unfinished business that the mayor had to wade through and figure out the best way he could. Papers were missing, computers gone, along with furniture.

The Oldham Reserve was dumped into his lap. No one had asked him anything about this. It was not bought on his watch.

Heart disease has a staggering impact on the nation, Commonwealth and Oldham County. Kentucky is eighth nationally in cardiovascular disease death rates with about 1,100 deaths annually.

About 15 percent of all hospitalizations and 30 percent of all Kentucky deaths are related to heart disease. In Oldham County, EMS responds to an average of 320 heart-related calls annually in addition to about 100 heart rhythm disturbances and 30 heart attacks.

As my visit comes to a close, I find myself wondering once more why my ancestors ever chose to leave such a place.

Make no mistake, I love the U.S. and am proud and thankful to be an American, but three hundred years ago, things were different. It’s hard to imagine what my grandparents were thinking when they left family, community, and traditions behind and set sail for the unknown.

Over 70% of adults read their community newspapers. Are you in that statistic?

While metropolitan daily newspapers and urban television stations cover international, national and state news, along with the ocassional local story if it is sensational enough, your community newspaper focuses on the people, places and things in a very specific area.

I wish to address the 1929 dining car that is being placed on the tracks near the museum. I feel this is a very dangerous place to put it, as there are no crossing lights at this intersection and the trains cannot blow their whistle at the crossing.

It was hard to see down the tracks with the engine there, and now they are adding this other car.

The La Grange City Council on Monday, Aug. 8, passed a 1 percent compensation tax. According to the ordinance, 100 percent of the funds collected through the tax will be used to pay the city’s bond obligation on Oldham Reserve business park.

Oldham Reserve is a 1,000-acre business development located off of Exit 22 on Interstate 71. It is home to The Rawlings Company, an 8OO-person operation; the average salary there is $63,000. From an economic development and spin-off perspective, this is equivalent to two or three medium-sized businesses.

Last week, on the occasion of my eldest child’s 21st birthday, I spent most of the day trying to garner compliments.

Perhaps “compliment” is the wrong word. It was really reassurance that I needed. I didn’t care who said it, I just wanted to hear those magical words: “My goodness, young lady! You do not look anywhere near old enough to have a 21-year-old daughter!”

Project Guild of La Grange would like to send out a special thank-you to the community of Oldham County and its visitors for attending the 43rd annual Oldham County Day.

The Grand Marshal Luncheon, sponsored by Citizens Union Bank; the YMCA 1M and 5K races; the Dancing in the Street concerts on Friday and Saturday nights, sponsored by the city of La Grange; and the annual La Grange Rotary pancake breakfast were all successful.

It was with some concern that I learned last week that my cancellation notice for the 2013 Annual Veterans Recognition Event had not been printed by The Oldham Era this past week or the week before.

For several reasons, it was necessary for me to cancel this year’s event, and the newspaper had promised to publish the notice to that effect. It was my goal to inform readers that, after seven years of hosting this event on the second Thursday in August, I am unable this year to hold it.